Handi-Transit: is its fare fair?

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This article was published 27/11/2010 (5636 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The city has moved ever so cautiously to expand access to Handi-Transit for those who have Alzheimer’s or dementia, and are unable to ride regular transit. They can be accommodated by modest increases to Handi-Transit’s $9.5 million budget.

But the city should turn its mind to how it will manage the door-to-door shuttling service when the number of Winnipeggers older than 65 nearly doubles in a couple of decades.

Handi-Transit is a means of keeping elderly and disabled people in their homes and active in the community, allowing a degree of independence important to personal health and well-being.

It is also an expensive form of public transit — the operating cost of Handi-Transit per passenger is $16.20 compared to the $2.43 for regular transit riders.

Managers have worked to keep costs down in recent years. Handi-Transit’s budget is a fraction of the $132 million spent on regular transit. The city has tightened screening and made other adjustments since 2006 — improving boarding on regular buses and offering free fares on them to Handi-Transit registrants.

That triggered a significant drop in the annual riders on Handi-Transit, which has allowed budget increases to level off somewhat. But that may well change with the demographic shift of the city’s population.

In a decade, 125,100 Winnipeggers will be 65 or older, compared to 95,400 today, and in 2030, that number is projected to be 167,500.

Riders pay the regular adult fare, which irks some advocacy groups lobbying for the cut rate offered senior citizens on regular transit, which offers cheaper fares in tacit recognition that some are better able to pay than others — students also get substantial breaks.

Transit is, and will always be, heavily subsidized by the public treasuries. Handi-Transit ought to have a place in transit planning and mission. The greying nature of the population and the extraordinary expense this service costs the transit system means that current funding models may one day prove insufficient.

The disproportionate subsidy rate to a growing clientele will only become more dramatic with time.

It is not too early to think about the possibility that, like home care — and to a lesser degree regular transit — Handi-Transit ought to have some regard for ability to pay.